always
by PoetryRebel
Summary: He tied his jacket tightly around her abdomen, swooping her up in his arms. He didn't care if the next hospital was two states away. He was going to get her there. / austin and ally are always going to be partners. / auslly, one-shot drabble


_Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry, you don't know how lovely you are. I had to find you, tell you I need you, tell you I set you apart_

"Ally?!" Austin yelled, running into the streets.

The dimly lit pavement was almost haunting, sparkling from the rainfall. A petite figure lie motionless on the walkway. He didn't look before crossing the road. He didn't blink. He dashed as fast as he could, falling on his knees in front of her. Blood was rapidly flowing from her white tank top, tears staining her face. Ignoring his skinned knees from the sidewalk, he looked over her, desperately trying to find a sign she was still alive. Her chest rose and fell slowly, and he sighed in relief.

"Oh my god, Ally, what happened?" he yelled, the sound of his voice reverberating through the late-night streets. Austin grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly.

"He wanted my money," she muttered. "I didn't have any…"

He put his hand to her side. There was a large gash and she was bleeding profusely. He frantically fumbled in his jacket pockets, even though he knew he left his phone at home. As a last resort, Austin took off his jacket and draped it over her abdomen, pressing it into her.

"This is all my fault," he whispered.

/

"_Dammit, Ally! We've been partners for FOUR years and you still won't let me see what's in the fucking book! Don't you trust me?" Austin screamed, running a hand through his disgruntled hair._

"_I do, Austin, but some things are private!" she yelled back, picking up her book from where he had thrown it._

"_You told Trish it was about me! What, do you hate me now? You think you're too good to be my songwriting partner anymore?!"_

"_It's not that!" Ally said, her voice cracking. Tears threatened to fall from her face, lingering inside her eyes._

"_Then what the hell is it, Ally? What the hell is so damned important in that book?" Austin screeched. He was so close to punching a hole through the wall._

"_Find out your own damned self!" she yelled, running out the practice room and slamming both doors behind her._

_He picked up the book on the floor, carefully examining the freshly-written ink._

"_I'm in love with Austin."_

_/_

_Tell me your secrets, ask me your questions, oh let's go back to the start. Running in circles, coming up tails, heading up for a silence apart._

"Austin…I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she said, voice laced with discomfort. Tears were brimming in her eyes again, though her face was still soaked with previous ones.

"I shouldn't have gotten mad," he said, gripping onto her hand. "I should've just…I could've stopped this. This is all my fault."

"No, it's not. It's my fault for mixing my feelings with business," she said. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"No it's fucking not, Ally! I have _always_ loved you! Since the start, when we first became partners! I ran around it in circles, never facing it head on!"

He tied his jacket tightly around her abdomen, swooping her up in his arms. He didn't care if the next hospital was two states away. He was going to get her there.

/

_Nobody said it was easy, oh but it's such a shame for us to part, nobody said it was easy, but they never said it would be so hard…oh take me back to the start_

Austin watched as the hospital staff dragged her away, wheeling her down a million halls, filled with the distant scent of latex and the sound of quiet sobbing in the waiting room. He contained his anger inside, preventing himself from crying or screaming, no matter how much he wanted to.

Why hadn't he told her sooner?

Because it wouldn't have been easy. That's what he had always told himself.

Now it's tearing him apart. He wanted to go back. Take back everything stupid little thing he said. Told her how he felt a whole lot sooner.

Prevent this from happening.

/

_I was just guessing, at numbers and figures, pulling your puzzles apart…questions of science, science and progress, do not speak as loud as my heart…_

Austin didn't wait for the doctor to finish his sentence. The words "she's stable" came out of his mouth and he rushed into her room without a second thought. Despite all the mechanical equipment hooked up to her, that did god knows what, she still looked like the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen.

"Ally, I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry," he muttered, clasping his hands onto his face. "If I hadn't had yelled, made you walk out that door…we might be okay."

She didn't correct him on the usage of 'we.'

"Stop, Austin. Stop trying to solve this puzzle. No matter how many times you ask the question of what if, it doesn't change anything. I was heading home that way anyway. Is it your fault? No, _I_ ran out. You have to stop blaming yourself," she said, voice barely audible over the beeping of all the machinery.

"I can't put it into words…I can't believe I did this," he breathed out.

/

_Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me, oh and I rush to the start, running in circles, chasing our tails, coming back as we are.._

"You didn't do it," Ally said. A few strands of damp, disheveled hair fell onto her face. Sweat was dripping from her forehead.

"Yes I did, Als. You're in this condition because of me. I'm sorry. I've never been good with words."

She smiled, and he'd never felt so relieved in his life. He carefully reached across her shoulder, planting a kiss on her lips. Full of longing, and need.

She weakly kissed back, limply squeezing his hand in the process as the beeps drew almost too slow.

"I love you, Austin."

It didn't sound like Ally. The voice was creaky, low, like he was digging his fingernails down a chalkboard. Her facial features scrunched up upon saying it, wincing in pain. Austin's heart broke watching it/

"I love you, Ally," he whispered, pressing his lips to her cool forehead. The beeps got even lower and her eyes began to flutter closed.

His shot open, becoming fully aware of what was happening.

Austin frantically pushed the button, calling every nurse attendee that could come into the room. Nobody came.

"Ally! Ally! Ally, WAKE UP DAMMIT! I love you!"

He screamed her name as loud as he could, but her eyelids stayed closed. He tried to kiss her again.

Her lips felt numb and cold.

"You can't leave me! We are in this together! We were going to be partners forever!"

"Austin…" she mustered, not opening her eyes. "Always," she said. "We'll always be partners."

"Yes, that's right! Always! So you have to _stay_ _with me!"_

He grabbed her hand, clinging onto it as if his life were the one at stake. "Ally!" he screamed loudly, echoing against the hospital walls. His voice reduced to a faint whisper. "Please don't leave me."

The EKG beeps stopped and were replaced by a straight line, and his voice was drained out by a loud buzzing.

Flatline.

The nurses came pooling in as the doctor came in and tried to find a pulse. There was nothing. He tried to cut in, hold her hand, tell her he loved her one last time. They pushed him back, telling him to wait out in the hall.

He punched the wall, ignoring the blood streaming from his knuckles as he exited the room.

Taking a seat in the waiting room chairs, the first tear streamed from his face.

Followed by another.

Austin put his hands to his face, breathing in and choking out sobs. She was gone.

She was gone.

He buried his face in his laps, his sobs joining the echoing chorus of the rest of the hospital.

"Always."

/

_Nobody said it was easy…oh it's such a shame for us to part._

_Nobody said it was easy…they never said it would be so hard._

_Nobody said it was easy…please take me back to the start._


End file.
